For the average jazz lover, the thought of performing alongside masters such as singer Dee Alexander, vibraphonist Stefon Harris and reedist Victor Goines amounts to a fantasy unlikely to happen in this lifetime.

Yet next week, that scenario will become very real indeed for several fortunate Chicagoans, thanks to an annual summertime event that appears to be reaching a creative high point.

Straight Ahead Jazz Camp, running Monday through July 22, for the first time will spotlight a different major jazz artist each day at Columbia College Chicago, on South Michigan Avenue. Each of the pros will give a talk in the morning, conduct an improv session after lunch and close the afternoon with a jam session featuring participants (anyone can sign up).

Specifically, the lineup will spotlight Goines on Monday, trombonist Slide Hampton on Tuesday, Alexander on Wednesday, violinist and MacArthur Fellowship winner Regina Carter on Thursday and Harris on Friday. In addition, leading Chicago performers such as pianist Willie Pickens, cellist Tomeka Reid, singer Bobbi Wilsyn, saxophonists Greg Ward and Geof Bradfield, trumpeters Victor Garcia and Pharez Whitted and others will welcome Chicagoans into the mysteries of what they do.

Rarely does this much jazz talent convene in a single locale during such a concentrated period of time, giving amateurs, pros and devotees a rare opportunity to brush up alongside the greats.

"Normally, we would just have one guest artist for the whole week," says Diane Chandler-Marshall, education director for the non-profit Jazz Institute of Chicago, which produces the event.

"But we looked at other (jazz) camps, and they would have a lot of different artists in the week, so (Jazz Institute executive director) Lauren Deutsch came up with the idea of having someone featured each day.

"It was just based on the stars lining up, and them being able to come in."

And who comes out to play in jazz camp?

"We started this eight years ago with a focus on music educators, especially those in the Chicago Public Schools," says Chandler-Marshall. "Then it expanded to private music instructors, and then to people we call novice players who just love jazz.

"It's an opportunity for them to come out and be in a setting with other people who love the music. That's why we created the different levels," with improvisation workshops for beginning, intermediate and advanced players.

In addition, sessions such as cellist Reid's lecture-discussion on "Collective Creativity" (10:45 a.m. July 19) or Alexander's discourse on Nina Simone (10:45 a.m. July 20) don't involve picking up an instrument at all.

Was it difficult to line up all of these musicians?

"Not hard, because all of those people have a commitment to jazz in Chicago," says Chandler-Marshall. "They have a sincere interest in helping other musician and fans.

Summer in Chicago wouldn't be complete without cabaret star Andrea Marcovicci bringing a new show to Davenport's, on North Milwaukee Avenue.

This week Marcovicci will perform "Let's Get Lost," which she offers as a way to escape the anxieties of our times.

"For this hour and 15 minutes, let's get lost in music, let's get lost in romance, let's get lost in a world that is a bit more beautiful, a bit more elegant, a bit less violent, that's for sure," says Marcovicci.

"Forget what's outside in the world today and listen to the sounds of yesteryear, which are so extremely elegant."

In the case of this show, that means songs such as "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," "These Foolish Things," "I Won't Dance" and "A Fine Romance," all drawn from the enormous repertoire of songs Marcovicci has built during decades of singing cabaret.

"For the first time in I don't know when, I'm doing a show that's not a tribute to someone else," she explains.

"In many ways, it's a tribute to my own life in music. It celebrates the songs that I've loved the most, the ones that really cling."